REPORT: The CEOs Of Russia's Two Largest Companies Targeted In EU Sanctions

BRUSSELS/BERLIN (Reuters) - The EU has drawn up a list of
120-130 names of Russians who could be hit with travel bans and
asset freezes, European officials said on Friday, and a German
newspaper said the CEOs of Russia's two
biggest companies - Alexei
Miller of Gazprom and Igor Sechin of Rosneft - would be
on it.

Reuters was not immediately able to confirm the report in the
Bild newspaper, which included energy bosses Miller and Sechin in
a list with cabinet ministers, security officials and Kremlin
aides.

The preliminary list described to Reuters by European officials
runs to five pages. It was drawn up by diplomats who have
experience in Russia and was
supplied to EU officials in Brussels,
who will discuss the names and whittle the list down ahead of a
foreign ministers' meeting on Monday.

The 28-member European Union agreed
this week on a framework for sanctions to punish Russia for its seizure of Ukraine's Crimea region, but has yet to finalize a
list of targets who will be barred from visiting Europe and have assets frozen.

European foreign ministers are expected to impose the sanctions
and sign off on the target list on Monday, the day after a
referendum in Ukraine's Crimea region on
joining Russia. Washington also has
similar sanctions and has yet to publish its target list.

One EU official who has a copy of the list said it contained the
names of generals and other people from the top echelons
of Russia's military and political
establishment.

EU member states are discussing whether to start by sanctioning
as many people as possible from the list in a preventative way,
or else take a more cautious approach and add names from the list
to the sanctions in several steps.

Bild said the list would include at least 13 politicians and
industry leaders

A spokesman for Sechin said: "I hope that this all ends up being
empty rhetoric. It's silly, petty and obvious sabotage of
themselves. I think it will primarily affect Rosneft's business
partners in the West in an extraordinary way."